“I always ask myself, 'Are we playing hard?' If so, I can evaluate defensive schemes. If not, your scheme can’t be evaluated.” -Jeff Van Gundy
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” -Dale Carnegie
Peeps, Happy Tuesday. Wanted to start out with a couple thoughts from the book I am reading. It is called "Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business without Losing Yourself," by Alan Weber. Weber was the co-founder of Fast Company Magazine. It is a compilation of rules and observations Weber has come across and developed along the way of his journey. Here are a couple tidbits I have come across in my reading:
Rule #3: Ask the last question first. --When you are attacking a problem, or handling an issue, ask yourself: what's the point of this exercise? What is my definition of victory with this given problem? By answering the last question first, you can really get started. If you fail to answer that last question, how do you know that you won? How do you know how to allocate your time and resources? How do you know when you're done? And you really have to take some time with this. The answer isn't "to make a lot of money." It's not "all of the above." Take some time thinking about this. Your first answer is usually the wrong answer.
Rule #5: Change is a math formula. --Change happens when the cost of the status quo is greater than the risk of change. It's not enough to be convinced you're right. Because the other side also thinks they are right. You have got to be very clear in your own beliefs that you are in this for the long run, not staking your life and career for a short term victory. Whether you are trying to switch jobs, trying to move to a new city or switching majors, whatever the cause if you care enough to fight you have got to care enough to stay and fight.
Rule #14: You don't know if you don't go. --There is no substitute for genuine experience. Let go of control and let new people and experiences penetrate your bubble of security and habits. Get out of your comfort zone. Buy a magazine you never would think of buying instead of Sports Illustrated. Eat lunch with a different group of people at work. Saying yes is so simple and can open up many great doors that you don't even know are there.
Entourage
My buddy Kelly hit me with a text Sunday night calling that episode of Entourage a top 10 candidate. Obviously that was a little strong by Kelly. But again, it is that kind of emotion and energy that an episode of Entourage creates. It is such a great show. Even when it's weak. And I think for the most part, it's been pretty weak. I don't think you can look at a single plot line right now with any type of excitement. Aside from Drama, who is carrying the show in my opinion, the plots are all played out. Do we really need the Bill Lumburgh plot line where he is stepping out on his wife? Wow, high powered rich people in today's culture stray from their wives and fall for young skanks? Didn't know that. That's a stupid take. Same thing with Turtle's plot line. I am already tired of Meadow Soprano and the famous celeb falls for normal person plot. It's weak. And E's situation is boring too. Not crazy about the new girl in the love triangle, but I am sure she will grow on people. She wouldn't be on the show if she didn't have "grow on you hottness". The guys who run the show are way too smart to let that happen. They are actually getting a little cocky with it. They probably just sat around and said, "you know, we have hit home run after home run with girls on this show, let's mess with people and put a skinny bug-eyed freak on the show for a couple weeks, who guys will be outraged about but then learn to think is hot before we cut her in episode 7." Again, to close this, like I said last week, they are hitting on very real topics in Hollywood and regular life. We can all relate to E in some way or the other. We see the cheating husband all the time. I would just like a little more innovation in what they choose to cover. Show me things that I don't know about Hollywood and the business. But great show. Great part of my Sunday.
My buddy Kelly hit me with a text Sunday night calling that episode of Entourage a top 10 candidate. Obviously that was a little strong by Kelly. But again, it is that kind of emotion and energy that an episode of Entourage creates. It is such a great show. Even when it's weak. And I think for the most part, it's been pretty weak. I don't think you can look at a single plot line right now with any type of excitement. Aside from Drama, who is carrying the show in my opinion, the plots are all played out. Do we really need the Bill Lumburgh plot line where he is stepping out on his wife? Wow, high powered rich people in today's culture stray from their wives and fall for young skanks? Didn't know that. That's a stupid take. Same thing with Turtle's plot line. I am already tired of Meadow Soprano and the famous celeb falls for normal person plot. It's weak. And E's situation is boring too. Not crazy about the new girl in the love triangle, but I am sure she will grow on people. She wouldn't be on the show if she didn't have "grow on you hottness". The guys who run the show are way too smart to let that happen. They are actually getting a little cocky with it. They probably just sat around and said, "you know, we have hit home run after home run with girls on this show, let's mess with people and put a skinny bug-eyed freak on the show for a couple weeks, who guys will be outraged about but then learn to think is hot before we cut her in episode 7." Again, to close this, like I said last week, they are hitting on very real topics in Hollywood and regular life. We can all relate to E in some way or the other. We see the cheating husband all the time. I would just like a little more innovation in what they choose to cover. Show me things that I don't know about Hollywood and the business. But great show. Great part of my Sunday.
The Cavs
Don't look now, but Shaq Diesel is set to start a new reality TV show over the fall, where I guess he is going to challenge other sports celebrities in the sports they play. Sounds like a real winner. Looking forward to the Michael Phelps episode. That's gonna be riveting. But I mean here you go diehard Cavs fans, where do you come out on this? Defend this for me. I have been a little critical of this move and I am not gonna re-hash my arguments against it. But this is what you get when you bring in a guy like Shaq. This is all part of it. In for a penny, in for a pound. I would much rather hear that he is busy doing knee and back stability exercises 5 times a week, doing on court workouts 3 days a week, and doing plenty of cardio. Obviously, we would be dreaming if we thought any player in the NBA would be doing that.
Haven't really said much about Anthony Parker but I will now. I like that move. It's a good move for a good player. Parker is a very good offensive floor player, and a great corner 3 point shooter. He adds a little length on the wing, and doesn't need the ball to play. He has never been asked to play defense the way Brown is gonna ask him to do it, but he is plenty capable of doing so. I hope that he can continue to shoot at the level and percentage that he has in the past. He will have to adjust to being very wide open when he shoots, which has seemed to be an adjustment for some. But he is a journeyman pro. He's been overseas and back. So I hope that he has a strong mental focus and can be ready to help us.
Kind of a slick move by GM Danny Ferry sneaking out an offer sheet to swingman Jamario Moon. He was a guy that I championed earlier this season as a fantasy sleeper. In his rookie stint with the Raps, he was a dynamo with his patented 9 points 8 rebounds 3 assists 4 steals 2 blocks 2 dunks type games. He stalled a little bit this season when scouts and teams realized he wasn't very good. But he is the kind of guy who can be very valuable to a good team. He can easily be lost in the shuffle and make a lot of valuable plays when he's the 8th best guy on the team and gets lost in the scouting report shuffle. He's a guy with a lot of length who can guard most 2's 3's and 4's at an acceptable grade. I think he fits the Cavs a little better than a Matt Barnes could. Barnes, a better player, but needs the ball to move a little more freely, and needs to run the floor all game to be effective. Moon can kind of play in the slow half court scheme that the Cavs are going to have to play this season with Shaq in the middle.
I think if the Heat don't match the offer for Moon, it creates some depth and flexibility for the Cavs to keep listening to offers to upgrade the roster. I think this might create an opportunity where Mo Williams and Delonte West are now expendable. I don't think both are expendable. But I think you can now afford to put Mo and D in a deal and feel pretty good about it if it is going to help your team. And I think Ferry is definitely keeping his eyes and ears open to hook another big time move. The big thing in my eyes in the Zydrunas contract chip he has in his pocket. A nice little expiring $11 million chip. Let's hope he plays well, so there will be interest for him at the deadline.
Talking NBA
You know, I have to laugh at all these people-radio guys, TV guys, my friends who keep insisting that the Magic have regressed since losing Turkoglu. My buddy Josh champions this idea a little bit. In the words of Chad Ochocinco "child please." Since day 1, I have been way against this argument and I dunno why other people are still on the other side. They aren't happy that they lost MJT. He made some big shots and created a lot of opportunities for the team, but he did a lot of stupid shit too. And he peaked two years ago. It's a net neutral losing him. They are far and away the preseason favorite in the eastern conference. A healthy Jameer. D12. Bass, Barnes, Gortat. Vinsanity. Lewis and Pietrus. Anthony Johnson. Star-studded. A tough challenge for the Cavs, but a challenge I think they are going to be up for.
Next summer, when I have become a sports agent, and am representing a couple fringe NBA players, I can't wait to get to the Vegas Summer League. That's a great forum. I can't wait to spend a couple days at that place. I would love to see how those games play out start to finish. You get a couple highlights here and there, but it would be fun to see the kind of level and intensity that those guys play with. You would think that it would be high. Guys playing for their livelihoods. But at the end of the day, it's still a summer league. And I think more often than not, the guys treat it that way. But how bout Blake Griffin's tip dunk through about 6 guys in the key last week. Wow. And Anthony Morrow's 47 point game. Strong.
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